Hanan Ben-Ari, the talented nephew of former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, has released a third single after his first two achieved great success on radio, and in doing so continues his advance towards releasing his debut album.
The new single, entitled “Mother,” recalls Ben-Ari’s experiences as a 17-year-old when he stayed in Gush Katif’s Neve Dekalim for a month and witnessed the expulsion from Gush Katif first-hand. The song includes the moving refrain: “we will yet return there.”
“Mother, if I could just cure the longing / the memories still burn my mind, love didn’t win, neither did spirit,” Ben-Ari sings in the chorus. “Mother, if I could just believe you and not run / my heart was betrayed and doesn’t let me trust, only the melody still gives me strength.”
“I pray that my music will be a bridge. That this song will merit to make peace among ourselves,” Ben-Ari told Arutz Sheva after a debut performance for his upcoming album earlier this month.
“I hope that after ten years finally the story of my childhood, which was very ‘orange’ (i.e pro-Gush Katif – ed.), will become part of general Israeli culture,” he said. “If this song makes it in the (radio) playlist, I hope it will succeed in moving something in the heart.”
The heart-touching single shows the young artist’s versatility, in that it demonstrates a different style from the Jewish soul-groove style in his first two singles “Mimecha Ad Elay” (From You to Myself) and “Izun” (Balance), which were picked up for heavy rotation on the radio.
Ben-Ari is now winding down an online head-start campaign to raise funds for his debut album, which will be produced by Eyal Mazig and is to be released in another six months. The campaign took off strongly and enjoyed impressive support, and has nearly completed its goals.